Monday Is A Day To Ride Your Motorcycle

June 14th, 2012
Ride to Work Day 2012

Ride to Work Day 2012 is Monday.

This coming Monday, June 18, is a day you ought to plan to ride your motorcycle to work. Why? Because it is the 21st International Motorcycle & Scooter Ride To Work Day. It’s a day to demonstrate to everyone else–and even to ourselves–how many of us there are.

Along with demonstrating how many it also demonstrates that because there are so many of us, drivers need to be aware that we are there sharing the road with them and that they need to look for us.

Or, as the organizers say on their site:

Ride your motorcycle or scooter on this day to demonstrate:

  • The number of motorcyclists to the general public and to politicians.
  • That motorcyclists are from all occupations and all walks of life.
  • That motorcyclists can reduce traffic and parking congestion in large cities.
  • That motorcycles are for transportation as well as recreation.
  • That motorcycling is a social good.

And if, like me, you can’t ride to work because you work at home, then ride wherever else you need to go that day. Or just go out for a cruise.

See you on the road.

Biker Quote for Today

Women love men with big KTMs.

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Posted in Biker Issues, Day Rides, Rides and Rallies | 1 Comment »

Another One Bites the (Harley) Dust

June 11th, 2012

Something over 20 years ago the OFMC started out with three guys on two Hondas and a Yamaha. My, how times have changed.

John's new Harley on the dealership floor.

John's new Harley on the dealership floor.

A much larger group now, we got an email from John a couple days ago with pictures of his new Harley. As John noted, on our upcoming summer trip there will now be six Harleys, two Hondas, and one Kawasaki.

John was the one on the Yamaha–a Virago–in the beginning. It was just a few years later that he bought a Honda Shadow and he rode that for 19 years. The Virago went to his son, Johnathon, who only rode it a few years before buying his own Honda VTX.

Bill started out on a Honda Shadow but it has been a number of years now since he gave that to his son, Jason, and bought a Harley. That one got stolen so he bought another, and after a couple years Bill decided he was ready for a change. So he sold that Harley to his brother, Friggs, and got a new Harley.

Friggs had been on a newer Virago that was his first bike, but when Bill made him an offer he couldn’t refuse he became a Harley owner.

Dennis was riding a Gold Wing when he joined the OFMC, but after a few years he traded it on a Harley. Does anyone see a trend developing here?

Johnathon’s friend, Randy, joined the group, and like Johnathon he rides a VTX. And Jason’s friend Brett joined, mounted on a Harley.

Which leaves only me. I was the second of the original members on a Honda, my CB750 Custom, which I still have and still take on the trip occasionally. But in 1999 I bought a new Kawasaki Concours and that is still my preferred ride. No, I will not be getting a Harley any time soon. I probably won’t ever be getting one. That’s just not my kind of bike. But hey, if those guys want one, good for them. There comes a time when it’s time to stop putting things off. As John said recently, “The rainy days we’ve been saving for are here. It’s time to spend some of that money.”

Biker Quote for Today

Bikes are better than women because you don’t have to pay child support/alimony to an ex-motorcycle.

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Posted in Harley-Davidson, Kawasaki, OFMC | No Comments »

Randy Run Helps Downed Riders

June 7th, 2012
The Randy Run is named for Randy Savely.

The Randy Run is named for Randy Savely, who lost his leg in a crash.

Motorcyclists are far more vulnerable than cagers and as often as riders go on poker runs to support other causes, it would seem that it should be a no-brainer to raise money to help other riders who have been hurt.

That’s what ABATE of Colorado’s Randy Run is all about, and it will take place this weekend on Saturday.

The Randy Run is named for Randy Savely, that fellow in the photo above, who lost his leg when a car turned left and hit him as he was passing through an intersection. Randy is the district rep for ABATE’s District 10 and the run was originally a D-10 event. Last year the decision was made to make it a state-wide event and the state organization took it over.

The Randy Run takes off from the Frontier Club, 18881 E. Colfax, with sign-up beginning at 9 a.m. The ride fee is $15 per poker hand and that includes admission to all events. There will be the poker run, a bike rodeo, door prizes, auction, live music, and more.

As the flyer says, “You don’t have to be a member of ABATE to apply for Randy Run funds. Pay it forward now and help fellow motorcyclists in their time of need.”

Biker Quote for Today

Ride to lean.

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Posted in ABATE, Biker Issues, Day Rides, motorcycle events, Motorcycle Safety | No Comments »

MotorcycleColorado.com sets new traffic record

June 4th, 2012

Permit me to boast a little bit here, there were some really good numbers on this website last month. For the first time ever, www.motorcyclecolorado.com had more than 15,000 unique visits in one month in May 2012.

Concours On Wolf Creek Pass

One reason why so many people are interested in riding motorcycles in Colorado: Wolf Creek Pass.

What is especially exciting about this (to me, at least) is that this is only the beginning of the season and customarily the numbers continue to rise each month through August, so that record is likely to be beaten, and soon. In fact, just a few days into June, if the entire month goes like these days have it would come out to 18,000 unique visits in June. I’m not going to count on that, but if it’s anything close that suggests it could hit 20,000 by August. Yow! That’s just incredible.

Before this the best month ever on the site was 14,860 visits in August 2011. The exact number in May this year was 15,247. That compares with 11,740 in May of 2011. It’s that kind of growth year after year that continues to blow me away.

So once again, as I have other times when I’ve announced big numbers, I want to thank you–all of you folks who have come to the website and found it useful–for making this possible. I built this site for you and nothing can be more gratifying than to see that you find my efforts valuable.

Note: On a totally different subject, in case you saw my recent post about the EagleRider photo contest in which I have a finalist entry: You may have clicked on that link to go and vote for my picture and had problems. It seems a lot of people are having problems. I learned first off that Facebook, where the contest is in operation, had a server failure and was offline for awhile. But even since they got their operation back up there continue to be problems getting in to vote. I wish I could explain it but I can’t. All I ask is that you try again and perhaps bookmark the URL so you can vote each day through June 29. Here’s that link again: http://www.facebook.com/EagleRider/app_124405271018078

Biker Quote for Today

A day without a wheelie is like a day without sunshine.

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Posted in Miscellaneous, Updates Made to Website | No Comments »

Skyline Drive Photo Makes EagleRider Finals — Please Vote

May 31st, 2012
motorcycles on Skyline Drive in Colorado

The OFMC rides Skyline Drive.

I mentioned recently that I had entered the photo above in a contest EagleRider is having and now, of the 63 photos entered, they have selected 20 for the run-off. My photo is one of those 20 and I would appreciate your votes.

Here’s the scoop. EagleRider, the groundbreaking company that opened up the concept of motorcycle rentals, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. They ran this contest asking people to offer photos for their 20 Years on the Highway contest, with the winner to receive an all-expense-paid trip for two to Los Angeles for the celebration.

The winner will be decided by votes. The way I see it, at this point it becomes a matter of who can work their social network the best. Each person can vote once a day, every day from now until midnight on June 29. To see the finalist photos, go here and scroll through the entries. Whichever one you like the most, click the “Like” link. Of course, I’d be very pleased if you vote for my photo but if you like something else better you really should vote for it.

Then, bookmark the link and go back every day until June 29 and vote again. Please be advised that the page loads a bit slowly, so be patient. Thanks.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Call made to push Congress on motorcycle-only stops

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re becoming addicted to riding when you almost crash your car in a turn because you were trying to counter-steer and lean rather than turn the wheel.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Day Rides, Miscellaneous, Suggested Rides | 1 Comment »

A Nice Memorial Day Weekend Ride and Hike

May 29th, 2012
Alderfer Three Sisters Open Space Park

A map showing where Alderfer Three Sisters Open Space Park is in relation to Evergreen.

Judy wanted to do something different over the holiday weekend so I asked her what she had in mind. She said she wanted to take a motorcycle ride to somewhere where we could hike and have a picnic. Sounded good to me so I did some research.

What many people may not be aware of is that Jefferson Country has a sizeable number of open space parks in the mountains. We’ve been to a few but there are a lot of them we’ve never seen, so that seemed like the smart bet.

And it was. I ended up selecting Alderfer/Three Sisters Park, which is up by Evergreen. We headed out U.S. 285 and then north on C-470 to the Morrison exit, through Morrison and up to Evergreen. At Evergreen we took the County Road 73 fork south about half a mile and turned west on Buffalo Park Road. Then it was just over a mile to the park.

The three sisters are three knobs of rock sticking up from a ridge. There is a fourth set apart from the others and it is called the brother, so you’ve got three sisters and a brother. You can hike up and around them all of course the view is great. So we did. And up near the top of the sisters we ate our lunch.

Then we hiked back down, got on the bike and rejoined County Road 73, continuing south to the intersection of North Turkey Creek Road, which we took down to me U.S. 285, and then back down to the flatlands. Altogether, nothing spectacular but a really nice way to spend an afternoon.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Bullet points sum up sessions at Overland Expo

Biker Quote for Today

Never getting lost is fascist.

Tags:
Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Day Rides | No Comments »

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